Growing and wibbling
Well, things are still ticking along here. I'm now twenty one and a half weeks and it feels as though I've gone through a sudden expansion in the last week. There is now no denying the babe within - s/he wriggles regularly and this week has kept me awake two evenings with a bout of furious activity just as I tried to go to sleep. My centre of gravity has shifted, I can feel the pulling in my lower back as I walk and I'm now struggling to squeeze through gaps that my mind believes should be big enough, but clearly aren't.
Here's a pic:
The week before last we had our 20 week scan. We were unsure about it after the hassle that we had last time with our daughter's mild renal dilation that cleared up by itself but still got us into hot water with the medics for questioning the treatment options - all before she was born. This baby has perfect kidneys however. In fact, this baby is perfect in every way, with a slightly larger than average head and belly, and slightly shorted than average legs. So a perfectly healthy short, fat baby. :)
Want to see our baby?
We also found out that the placenta is low this time. The bottom edge of it just butts up against the cervix. There is plenty of time for it to move and I've got good chances of it doing so, but we will need to be scanned again at 35 weeks to see if the exit is clear before definitely planning a vaginal birth. I've done some research which indicates I'm much more likely to have it move than not, so I'm going to go ahead and keep preparing for my home birth. I'll hold off getting a pool until after that scan though, and if we end up needing to plan for a 38 week c/s then I'll have the pleasure of possibly having this baby share my birthday which would be a wonderful treat.
But I'm not dwelling on it too much. I'm 80% sure we're going to be all set for home birthing, so that's what I'm going to focus on. With that in mind I've managed to stay very positive about birthing with the NHS team since my last post. Knowing we have our doula booked has helped lift some of that pressure as I know we'll have support from whenever we need it and she can help us gage when to call the midwives so that they don't arrive until things are really motoring on. Having only had positive contact with the midwife team has been a real boost too.
It was clearly too good to last though. Today I rang the unit to book in my 25 week home visit. I spoke to a very lovely midwife that I attended a birth with last year and she was great, remembered me too and we had a nice chat. She found a slot that fits for us and when I asked which midwife it was who would be coming she told me and I was pleased it was one I hadn't met yet. Every chance I get to meet another team member is good in my book! But then the midwife I spoke to decided to warn me that the midwife who is coming doesn't like home births, and to be prepared for her trying to persuade me out of it. I'm thankful for the warning, but now I'm left wondering whether I want to meet this midwife at all if she's not going to be supportive and possibly throw off all the positivity I've managed to gather for the NHS team. I really don't want to have to battle at all, at this or any stage and ever since the phone call I've been feeling wobbly and emotional. And I haven't even met the poor midwife yet - she might be lovely - but the prospect of anyone not being 100% behind us just makes me question it all again.
A lottery win would come in very handy right now so I could just jump ship without guilt about the cost. But given our chances on that front, I'd better work on getting my head around this as a back up measure. Bah.
Here's a pic:
The week before last we had our 20 week scan. We were unsure about it after the hassle that we had last time with our daughter's mild renal dilation that cleared up by itself but still got us into hot water with the medics for questioning the treatment options - all before she was born. This baby has perfect kidneys however. In fact, this baby is perfect in every way, with a slightly larger than average head and belly, and slightly shorted than average legs. So a perfectly healthy short, fat baby. :)
Want to see our baby?
We also found out that the placenta is low this time. The bottom edge of it just butts up against the cervix. There is plenty of time for it to move and I've got good chances of it doing so, but we will need to be scanned again at 35 weeks to see if the exit is clear before definitely planning a vaginal birth. I've done some research which indicates I'm much more likely to have it move than not, so I'm going to go ahead and keep preparing for my home birth. I'll hold off getting a pool until after that scan though, and if we end up needing to plan for a 38 week c/s then I'll have the pleasure of possibly having this baby share my birthday which would be a wonderful treat.
But I'm not dwelling on it too much. I'm 80% sure we're going to be all set for home birthing, so that's what I'm going to focus on. With that in mind I've managed to stay very positive about birthing with the NHS team since my last post. Knowing we have our doula booked has helped lift some of that pressure as I know we'll have support from whenever we need it and she can help us gage when to call the midwives so that they don't arrive until things are really motoring on. Having only had positive contact with the midwife team has been a real boost too.
It was clearly too good to last though. Today I rang the unit to book in my 25 week home visit. I spoke to a very lovely midwife that I attended a birth with last year and she was great, remembered me too and we had a nice chat. She found a slot that fits for us and when I asked which midwife it was who would be coming she told me and I was pleased it was one I hadn't met yet. Every chance I get to meet another team member is good in my book! But then the midwife I spoke to decided to warn me that the midwife who is coming doesn't like home births, and to be prepared for her trying to persuade me out of it. I'm thankful for the warning, but now I'm left wondering whether I want to meet this midwife at all if she's not going to be supportive and possibly throw off all the positivity I've managed to gather for the NHS team. I really don't want to have to battle at all, at this or any stage and ever since the phone call I've been feeling wobbly and emotional. And I haven't even met the poor midwife yet - she might be lovely - but the prospect of anyone not being 100% behind us just makes me question it all again.
A lottery win would come in very handy right now so I could just jump ship without guilt about the cost. But given our chances on that front, I'd better work on getting my head around this as a back up measure. Bah.